This invention relates to a method for hydrolyzing carbon oxysulfide, more particularly to a method whereby the hydrolysis is catalyzed by a water-soluble organic compound.
Carbon oxysulfide is often present in minor amounts in petroleum refinery gases and it is found in larger amounts in coal gasification product streams. This toxic contaminant poses a special problem in sour gas purification processes since it is neither readily separated nor easily hydrolyzed by known gas treating solvents under ordinary conditions. It is an undesirable contaminant in a Claus plant feed stream, since it is not readily converted to sulfur, and it is necessary to remove it from fuel gases and the like for reasons of corrosion and air pollution. Carbon oxysulfide reacts irreversibly with ethanolamine but this is not usually a practical method for removing it from a gas stream because the solvent cannot be regenerated. Carbon oxysulfide can be hydrolyzed to H.sub.2 S and CO.sub.2 but prior art processes for accomplishing this usually involve high process temperatures, relatively insoluble catalysts, or other disadvantageous features, see U.S. Pat. No. 3,660,017, French Pat. No. 2,062,138, and W. German Offenl. 2,250,169.